Despite overwhelming
testimony from agencies and members of the construction industry in opposition
to the move, the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) voted
8-2 on July 29 to support the use of the National Fire Protection Association’s
NFPA 5000 Building Code, NFPA
1 Fire Code, along with the International Association of Plumbing
and Mechanical Official’s IAPMO
Plumbing and Mechanical Code. The CBSC also voted to support the
use of the International Residential
Code, but without the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing divisions.
The vote from the commission requires the agencies that oversee the construction
of state facilities—such as schools, health-care facilities, and
housing—to use these codes for enforcement. These same agencies
testified in support of the adoption of the International Code Council
(ICC) family of codes because of the ease with which they can make the
necessary changes to the codes.
The debate over adoption of either the ICC or NFPA family of codes continues
across the country. ICC’s International
Building Code (IBC) has been adopted and is or will be in use in
32 states. The most recent jurisdictions adopting the IBC include West
Virginia; Nebraska; Louisiana; Washington; and Scottsdale, Ariz. Thirteen
states have also adopted the companion International Fire Code. One small
Texas city near Houston (Pasadena) has adopted the NFPA Building Code.
Nine additional states have statewide building codes and continue to use
one of the three previous model codes. In addition to California, New
Mexico and the City of Phoenix are actively considering which codes to
adopt. Phoenix currently is considering NFPA 5000, albeit a highly modified
version significantly different from the model document.
Challenges ahead
California State Architect Stephan Castellanos, FAIA, testified that his
staff estimated it will take at least three times the review time to bring
NFPA 5000 online for school construction. Given the budget crunch the
state is currently experiencing, that means either the work by his staff
on school construction in California will be delayed or the work to prepare
the new codes will be delayed until 2006 or later. Testimony from the
public and industry overwhelming opposed the use of NFPA 5000. Similar
sentiments were expressed by construction industry representatives, including
architects, building owners, Silicon Valley industries, contractors, unions,
structural engineers, the league of cities, building officials, and fire
protection officials who nearly unanimously favored the ICC Codes.
Only California’s fire chiefs’ organizations, firefighters,
a few fire protection consultants, the International Association of Plumbing
and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), and several disabilities rights representatives
spoke on behalf of the NFPA codes. These groups in general indicated that
the NFPA codes provided greater protection to firefighters and that the
NFPA code-development process was more open and inclusive and provided
ANSI-approved consensus.
Steven R. Winkel, FAIA, a governor-appointed member of the 11-person
California Building Standards Commission who also serves on the commission’s
code change committee, reports that not all the firefighters groups are
in favor of adopting the NFPA codes. “The fire services are quite
split; I think every fire chief in California belongs to a different fire
chiefs umbrella organization,” Winkel says. “We heard testimony
from too many chief's groups to count, split between NFPA and ICC.”
Representatives from NFPA staff and ICC gave summary statements prior
to the final vote by the CBSC. Both organizations indicated their commitment
to the state and promised development of educational tools and staff to
provide support for the agencies as they progress through the adoption
process.
Next steps
The CSBC vote is mandatory for the state agencies affected. According
to the State Architect’s office, these agencies will now work to
develop a timeline for preparing a package of amendments that revise the
current building codes (which have not been updated since 1998) to align
them with the CBSC recommendations. During this process, the amendments
will be offered for public comment. Eventually, the CBSC will be asked
to adopt and approve these changes. The new regulations will take effect
after their publication.
Copyright 2003 The American Institute of Architects.
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